The Whoop 4.0 is one of the best wearables out there – I should know having used it for over three years. Its unique balance of information provides a window into health and wellness and has allowed the Apple Watch to make a comeback in recent years.

But I also wear an Apple Watch. It’s an expensive trade-off, and carrying two devices on your wrist is silly, but I love the workout tracking and smarts of Apple’s smartwatch.

And that got me wondering: What apps and services does the Apple Watch need to reproduce Whoop’s information? The App Store means that the capabilities of the Apple Watch are almost limitless. The downside, of course, is that all this information is spread across many applications.

But here are the key options to make your Apple Watch more Whoop-like.

Read the reviews: Apple Watch Series 10 has been tested | Two years of life with Whoop 4.0

Stem

Athlytic ($29.99/£29.99 per year) is pretty much a Whoop alternative in its own right, and will also analyze sleep, HRV recovery, trends and workout performance. You can do most of the analysis below in one place – and for the most part, its data is useful.

It’s particularly geared towards training analysis and recovery and, like Whoop, provides effort scores based on your workouts. It’s not as holistic as Whoop, which will add untracked workouts and general activity to your score.

Read on: The best Apple Watch apps you need to download

Apple has moved to add Training Load data to the Apple Watch through watchOS 11, and is also replacing some of the Whoop’s Strain core utility natively. It will analyze the amount of training you do and tell you how it compares to previous weeks. It’s not a direct replica of the Strain core, but Whoop recommends a daily strain target, so this fills some of the gap.

It also combines sleep and recovery data into one place – so if you’re looking for a one-stop shop for Whoop functionality, Athlytic does the trick.

Recovery

Athlytic covers many of Whoop’s features and also offers a singular recovery score based on HRV. But there’s an app that does this specific analysis better: Training Today.

Training Today (£2.95/month) it works quietly in the background, pulling data from Apple Health and turning it into an analysis of HRV. It’s a bit pricey considering what you get in Athlytic, but it has some unique features.

Unlike Whoop, it provides semi-real-time analysis of HRV and training readiness. This means you can not only see how recovered you are on a given day, but also during the day. So if your HRV rebounds later in the day from resting and eating well, or drops for other reasons, you can plan your session accordingly. By comparison, Whoop only measures your HRV while you sleep, your score remains static until the next morning.

Sleep

Apple Watch sleep tracking has improved a bit over the years, now featuring sleep staging and important bedtime consistency metrics.

But that’s no match for Whoop, which provides information on sleep latency, efficiency, and the crucial need for sleep versus actual sleep.

The App Store has plenty of alternatives. I tested best sleep tracking apps for apple watch and our top pick would be INCREASE. It has a subscription ($69.99 per year), but the views and data are some of the best on the Apple Watch. If you prefer a one-time purchase, try AutoSleep, which is simpler but packed with data.

Health values

This one is easy. The health monitor on Whoop provides a quick overview of basic vitals and how they compare to baselines, including respiratory rate, resting heart rate, temperature, blood oxygen and heart rate variability.

Apple has moved on to add similar functionality, so an update to watchOS 11 will produce the Vitals app. It also tracks these values ​​and alerts you if two or more are outside the normal range, which can be a significant sign of illness or fatigue.

Strength Liveno

Alas Strength trainer it could be improved, but it does a good job of guiding you through weight training and adding effects to your tension score.

The Powerful application (Free) can fill that role on Apple Watch, allowing you to track sets and build a workout. It’s not quite a rep counter, but you can easily record the weights and sets you complete. This basically covers the main aspects of strength training.

Health values

While the Apple Watch has Mindfulness apps, it doesn’t track stress like Whoop’s stress monitor. I tried StressWatch from the App Store (free), which provides guidance on stress levels and tips on how to manage them. It will also periodically reveal your stress using the color-coded scale shown above, and lets you dive into an HRV history as well.